A Plain Dealer/cleveland.com analysis just shook up the conversation about sports stadium finance and the future of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. “Daring to dream big,” the July 7 stories from reporters Lucas Daprile and Zachary Smith, pointed not just to a need for a more regional approach, but also to a potential financing mechanism — if all nine counties in Northeast Ohio adopt a quarter-percent sales tax to underwrite the initiatives.
This could mean that, finally, the conversation about paying for a new Browns stadium will involve more than just Cuyahoga County and the state. By putting money on the table, Browns fans from Ashtabula County west to Lorain County and south to Summit and Medina counties could get a voice about the design, location and concept of a regional state-of-the-art facility. And Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam might finally see their proposed high-priced domed stadium entertainment complex become reality.
It’s also long past time to have a regional conversation about how to speed up upgrades to our outdated Cleveland airport to support continued business growth throughout Northeast Ohio – a conversation that would finally involve more than just the city of Cleveland and the airlines.
Regionalism is not a radical concept. Other regions have embraced it to support sustained, broad-based growth. And once there’s tax money on the table to support regional initiatives, they will come, or so the theory goes.
A lot still has to be worked out to make this a reality. Will state law allow it? Will the legislature adjust the law, if not? Will all nine counties – Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, Stark and Summit counties – buy into it? Who gets to call the shots in a regional alliance? Will Cuyahoga and other large counties big-foot others?
Will this big dream crash-land as prior local regionalization initiatives have done, or is the need great enough to push it forward?
Our Editorial Board Roundtable offers its thoughts.
Leila Atassi, manager public interest and advocacy:
I don’t support publicly financing facilities that mostly benefit pro sports teams and their billionaire owners. Many voters would oppose cleveland.com’s proposal for that same reason. What I do support, however, are solutions grounded in regionalism. And this bold proposal has kicked the door wide open for that long-overdue conversation.
Ted Diadiun, columnist:
I live in Geauga County and I’d vote for this idea in a heartbeat. What a wonderful way to upgrade the airport and reclaim the lakefront from the huge Browns stadium footprint, among much else. Summit County residents might take more convincing, but who can’t afford a quarter-percent sales tax?
Thomas Suddes, editorial writer:
Assuming legislators authorized one, the region’s voters wouldn’t authorize a 0.25% sales tax for sports facilities and a renovated Hopkins — nor should they. Sales taxes are regressive; they burden lower-income consumers more heavily than higher-income taxpayers. Airlines and billionaire team owners, not taxpayers, should pay the tab.
Eric Foster, columnist:
Everyone sees the value of pooling resources. The dispute is always who gets to direct the resources once pooled. A king of a molehill is still a king. If things as unifying as Cleveland sports and flying cannot overcome the instinctive desire to cling to power, regionalization has no hope.
Lisa Garvin, editorial board member:
Northeast Ohio leaders who fancy themselves as visionaries but won’t embrace regionalism are crippling our economic future just to maintain their fiefdoms. People who pretend they don’t have an interest in the airport or sports stadiums are willfully ignorant. Why can’t we understand that the only way forward is together?
Victor Ruiz, editorial board member:
I encourage all of us to seriously consider this idea. Our region cannot compete nationally, nor globally, if we do not figure out how to leverage our collective strengths and resources. I realize that control is a major concern; however, giving up a little power positions us for greater success.
Mary Cay Doherty, editorial board member:
Kudos to the plan’s authors for thinking big. But regionalism would require the city of Cleveland to accept more populous tax-paying suburbs as equal partners and potential sites for future stadiums. This seems unlikely. Meanwhile, it also sounds illogical to turn the self-sustaining airport into a perpetual tax burden.
Elizabeth Sullivan, opinion director:
Why do I suspect that this bold idea, which could mean a sea change in political attitudes and leadership, is headed for the trash heap — like so many regionalism ideas before it? Local leaders just will not cede power.
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* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this Editorial Board Roundtable to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com